Only Perfect
by fearXtheXstorm
Summary: Leslie and Donald had planned to spend break together. Change of plans, Leslie is gonna visit some friends she rarely gets to see. She hasn't told Donald yet, when Beca and Lilly tell him while setting Leslie's surprise birthday party. He takes it okay, but Leslie still needs to have a birthday party. Can the Bellas and Treblesput this birthday party together? Again, no sex, sorry.


**Okay, so, hey. This is another DonaldxOC, kind of following my last fanfic on them. Same OC and everything. **

**Summary: With winter break less than a few weeks away, Leslie and Donald had planned to spend Christmas together. But change of plans, Leslie is gonna go visit some friends she rarely gets to see. She hasn't told Donald yet, when Beca and Lilly tell him while preparing Leslie's surprise birthday party. He takes it okay, and he's gone to Leslie to discuss it. But Leslie still needs to have a birthday party. Can the Bellas and Trebles actually put this birthday party together, or is just not going to work?**

**Rated M for language. Again, no sex, guys. Sorry.**

**Barden Bellas: Aubrey, Beca, Chloe, Ashley, Denise, Fat Amy, Stacie, Lilly, Cynthia Rose, Jessica, and Leslie (my OC)**

**Treblemakers: Bumper, Jesse, Donald, Benji, Unicycle, Kolio, Steven, Michael, Greg, Hat, and Brian **

Donald walked into the Treble House, beatboxing to himself. He was pretty sure the Treble House would be empty, because he'd just left the ten other Trebles at the football field. Jesse had made friends with some jocks, and the football team had agreed to play a game of tackle football with the Trebles.

Donald had opted out of it. He could hold his own, of course, but he had been a pacifist for most of his life. He'd been in fights and won, but he didn't just walk into them. He wasn't a dumbass. Like Bumper was at last year's Regionals. Yeah, that was dumbass on Bumper's part. And then there was Donald, holding his own like a boss.

Anyways, the football team only had ten people today since the others were either in detention or had concussions. The last game had taken quite a toll on the Barden football team, so Donald had offered to sit out, so they could have a fair game.

And the early December air wasn't quite as warm as it had been last year. With the temperature in the low fifties, he'd rather stay inside than play football.

So, expecting the Treble House to be empty, he ran up to his bedroom, and quickly set himself to just chill. As shocking to most as it was, he wasn't too high-maintenance, and with mostly anything as his disposal, if he wanted to chill, he could chill.

So, an hour later, he was ending a heated HALO 4 match. He swore into his headset, and then laughed when he got a kill. He could hear Cameron, someone Leslie had introduced him to, huff.

"_Okay, good game. I have to go. Tell Leslie I said hi."_ Cameron said, before ending the game. Donald nodded, and turned off his Xbox. He put away everything, then flopped lazily onto his bed. He glanced at his watch. It was only one. There was no way the Trebles would be back for another three hours. At least. But the house smelled relatively nice. Like food.

Donald liked food.

Not as much as he liked Leslie.

But Donald liked food.

Even though he had taken off his shirt earlier, he left his room, and thundered down the stairs, walking into the kitchen.

"Damn, girl, what are you cooking?"

The voice surprised Beca and Lilly as Donald walked into the kitchen. Beca only glanced at him, while Lilly smiled at him.

"I am making étouffée." Beca said, huffing. Donald grinned.

"What for? And rice is in the fourth cabinet." He said. Beca nodded, and opened a different cabinet.

"It's one of Leslie's favourite foods." She said matter-of-factly. Donald nodded.

"Okay, so I know that. I have known that. That doesn't explain why you're making it." he said, sitting on the counter. Beca rolled her eyes.

"The Bellas are trying to plan a surprise birthday party for Leslie. Well, not a surprise anymore. She knows we're doing it, she doesn't know when or how. Or why." Lilly said. Donald nodded.

"Ah, okay. Well, what for? Her birthday isn't for another two weeks and four days." He said. Lilly nodded.

"We know. She won't be here, though. She's leaving the day before winter break starts. Apparently she has people she wants to see. Some in Boston, some in LA, and some in West Monroe. She won't even be here for her birthday." Lilly said. Donald, who just poured himself a glass of tea –a habit he picked up from Leslie and her cultured ways-, looked up, dropping the glass. The glass shattered upon hitting the floor, and the tea splashed everywhere.

"What?" he cried, then looked down at the mess he'd just made.

"Fuck." He said, sliding off the counter, and beginning to pick up the broken glass. Lilly and Beca both nodded.

"She hasn't told you yet?" Beca asked, pausing in her cooking to look at him. He stood straight, and shook his head.

"No. I thought she'd be here for winter break." He said. Beca shook her head, returning to the stove.

"Yeah, she told us Bellas last week at rehearsal when Aubrey suggested still rehearsing during break. Leslie told us she wouldn't be able to, so we pressured the truth out of her. She said not to tell you, because she was figuring out a way. She was pretty sure she'd promised to spend Christmas with you, then a change of plans needed to be made. She couldn't figure out a way to tell you. We assumed she'd told you by now, that's why I'm cooking here and not somewhere else." Beca explained. Donald sighed, throwing the glass into the trash, and running a dish towel over the tea.

"No, she hadn't told me. I need to call her." he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Beca quickly turned to him, holding her hands up, pushing his hand away.

"No! Don't, please! Okay. She's not stupid, she'll know one of the Bellas will have had to tell you. She'll figure out someone is here who isn't a Treble, and put two and two together, it won't take long." She said. Donald looked at her.

"Please, Donald, just, chill. Okay? You need to understand how hard she is to surprise. She's, like, a walking computer or something. She knows fucking everything." Beca said. Donald sighed, and put his phone back in his pocket.

"Okay. I won't call her now. Anyways, I think she's calling you." He said, pointing to Beca's phone. It was sitting on the counter, and lit up, ringing. Beca turned quickly, and answered the call, putting it on speaker.

"Hey, Leslie, what's up?" she said.

"_Beca, I'm bored. Why aren't the Bellas meeting today?"_

"Because we're all busy, Leslie. Why don't you play DayZ or something?" Beca suggested, glaring at Donald when he opened his mouth. He shut it again.

"_I've already played DayZ. And World of Warcraft. And Smite 2. I'm bored. What are you doing?"_

"I'm studying, Leslie. Why not go out to the field or somewhere? Work on a story or something."

"_Beca, it's cold outside!" _Leslie whined. Donald felt himself grinning, imagining his girl. Beca rolled her eyes.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"_I don't know. Can I come study with you?"_

"You hate studying."

"_Oh right. Well, have you seen Donald at all today? I've not seen or heard from any of the Trebles."_

"I haven't, Leslie. I just said I've been studying. I think Jesse said something about football yesterday, though."

"_Oh, so they're outside. Okay. Well, maybe I'll see if Kenth wants to Skype. I think he came up with a way for me to see them before Cole."_

"Speaking of Kenth and Cole, have you thought of a way to tell Donald about break?"

"_Oh. No. Fuck. I can't think of anything. I feel bad, because I promised him I'd spend Christmas with him, and now I probably won't make it back in time. Maybe I'll just go climb a tree and never leave it so he can assume that I died or something and just hate me forever."_ They heard her sigh.

"_What am I talking about? Why is this so hard?" _

"Well, why don't you just tell him? Maybe you can tell him tomorrow. Or text him."

"_Beca, no! I don't want him to be mad at me." _

"Okay, well. I might hang out with Jesse later tonight, so if I see Donald, then I'll tell him for you."

"_Beca! I don't think-" _Beca cut her off.

"Don't worry, Leslie, I'll handle it. Oops, I've got to go. Listen, I've got this, Leslie. Chill."

"_Beca!"_ was the last thing they heard before Beca hit the end call button.

Donald looked at her.

"You're a strange friend, you know." He said. Beca shrugged.

"Look, bring it up later with her calmly. Tell her I told you." Beca said. Donald nodded.

"Right, okay. Well, how exactly is her birthday party going to go?" he asked, getting himself another glass of tea. Lilly smiled.

"Well, Stacie, Fat Amy, Cynthia Rose, Ashley, Aubrey, and Chloe are trying to figure out a place and make it pretty. Then the others are deciding how the time is going to go. We've gotten as far as food with original planning." She said. Donald raised an eyebrow.

"You don't even have a place yet? When is it?" he asked. Beca looked at the time.

"Well, if this étouffée turns out, then tonight probably. If not, we may have to put it off some. I seriously don't know how she makes this so quickly." She said. Donald grinned.

"Have it here." He said, "The guys won't mind. I'll call them, tell them to hurry so they aren't sweaty." He said. Beca laughed.

"Really?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah, really." Donald said. Before she could question him, he picked up his phone, and dialed a number. Immediately, someone picked up, and he began talking.

"Yeah, hey! Okay, so you guys have an hour to get back here, get cleaned up, and find the Bellas to help them out before I beat you all senseless….Yeah, I'm serious. Apparently, they're throwing Leslie a surprise birthday party because she won't be here for hers. So we're gonna help them out….Actually, that's a good point." He looked up at Beca.

"Are the Trebles allowed to actually come to the party?" he asked, and she nodded.

"That's what we'd hoped. I think Denise was supposed to invite you guys once we found a place." She said. Donald nodded, and went back to the call.

"Yeah, we're allowed, so you guys better be back here in an hour….Tell Bumper I said so….Well, tell him please, then….Yeah, dude, thanks….Okay, bye." Donald hung up.

"Who'd you call?" Lilly asked. Donald shrugged.

"Unicycle. He happened to be the last Treble I called. He said they'll be here in an hour, they'll shower and change, then they'll go off to find the other Bellas." He said. Beca nodded, smiling.

"Thank you," she said. He nodded.

"No problem. Is there anything you want me to do now?" he asked. She looked at him.

"Yeah, does this look right?" Beca asked. Donald glanced at the dish on the stove. It looked like étouffée to him.

"For the most part. Is that the only food?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No. Aubrey and Chloe said that the day of, they'd order pizza, and get snacks and some drinks. I should actually tell them. Lilly, call Chloe, please." She said, and Lilly picked up her phone. Donald nodded.

"Okay. Then I'm going to go entertain Leslie, if you don't need me here. Any time you want me to be back?" he asked. Beca nodded.

"I'll have Jesse text you, telling you when to come back here. I might have you bring Leslie, too. That might actually cover the surprise part. She trusts you." Beca said.

Donald nodded, and set his glass in the sink. Then he turned out of the kitchen, and they heard the front door open. A yelp shot through the air, and the door shut again. Donald walked quickly back through the room, and shot up the stairs.

"Oh, hey, you need to put on a shirt!" Beca yelled after him.

"That would've been nice to know before I opened the door." he yelled back. A few moments later, he walked back through the kitchen, and disappeared out of the house.

Leslie sighed. Kenth wasn't making any sense whatsoever.

"Kenth, Kenth, Kenth, Kenth, you just contradicted yourself." She said. He gave her a patient smile.

"Leslie, I think you're a little preoccupied. What's up?" he asked. She sighed again.

"It's just, well, I haven't told Donald yet that I won't be here for break, and Beca said she'd do it earlier, and I'm afraid he'll be mad at me. And she probably won't wait. Knowing Beca, she's already told him. I just, I don't know what to do." She said, letting her head fall onto her desk. Kenth grinned.

"Leslie, we've been friends for years. I know you. No one could ever possibly be mad at you. It's impossible. I've tried." He said. Leslie shook her head.

"This is different. He's not just one of my friends. Or just one of my best friends. He's my boyfriend, Kenth." She said. Kenth nodded.

"I know, Leslie, you've told me. I only listened to you for about forty minutes last week talk about him." he said. Leslie sat back up, blushing.

"Yeah, sorry. You should've stopped me." She apologized. He shook his head.

"Its fine, I get it. You just need to chill. If he's mad, you'll know. And if it comes down to it, you can just stay there. I can call the others." Kenth said. Leslie shook her head.

"No, Kenth. You and the guys will be in Europe for all my other breaks, and John Luke and Cole are way too busy. It'll be too hard for them to reschedule any of this. And Eddie and James and them won't even be in Boston next year. They'll be in Colorado again. I'm not going to Colorado." She said. Kenth grinned.

"Okay, okay. But if he really loves you, he'll understand. Donald will understand." He said. Leslie smiled, and was about to respond, when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in, it's unlocked." She said. The door opened, and Donald walked in. He grinned at her.

"Hey you. A little birdie told me that you were bored. That birdie said you'd probably call up Kenth, but that doesn't mean he's more fun than me." Donald said, walking in, and sitting beside her, kissing her cheek. Leslie smiled. Kenth dropped his jaw in mock indignation.

"Hey!" he said. Donald shrugged, and Kenth grinned. Leslie looked at Donald.

"Okay, if you're talking to birdies, then I might have to get your mind checked out. I'd prefer it if I was dating Donald, not someone who talks to birdies." She teased. Donald shrugged. Kenth laughed.

"How've you been, Donald? Leslie not outsmarted you yet?" he said. Donald shook his head.

"Now, Leslie outsmarted me way before we started dating, so I guess I'm doing pretty well. But, if you guys aren't talking about anything too important, I'd like to talk to my girl about break." Donald said. Kenth nodded.

"Go for it. Actually, I can smell something good, so I'm going to go find out what it is." He said, standing up.

"Bye, Leslie, I'll talk to you guys later. Be careful, don't freeze, remember to sleep. Don't sing standing on your head, watch out for dinosaurs and alligators. Land with your knees bent and all that." he said, then hung up the Skype call. Leslie smiled, and shut her laptop, putting it away. Then she turned to Donald.

"So what's up?" she asked. He smiled.

"You look a little pale, chill. Not literally." He said, pulling her into his lap. She smiled.

"That's not really an answer to my question." She said. Donald shrugged.

"Well, so, about twenty minutes ago, I got a call from Beca. She said that you were having trouble with an issue, something about break. She continues on to tell me that you couldn't figure out how to tell me the change in plans with break. Want to fully explain what's going on? She wasn't making much sense." He said. Leslie nodded.

"Yeah, well, Eddie called me back in the beginning of November, and told me that this winter would probably be their last for a while in Boston. They're moving to Colorado in January. And then Kenth asked if I wanted to fly out and see them a while this break, since most other breaks, they'll be in Europe, and I can't really leave during the school year. And then Sadie called me, and said if Cole and John Luke didn't see me soon, they'd probably rage quit. They all miss me, so I said I'd try to visit for a few days. The way it's gonna go, though, I might not be back in time for Christmas." She explained. He smiled.

"And why am I just now hearing about this?" he asked. She blushed a little.

"I couldn't think of a way to tell you. I was afraid you'd be mad at me because I wouldn't be able to keep my promise." She said quietly. He rubbed her arm.

"I'm not mad, Les. I could never be mad at you. Things happen, plans change. It's alright. We've got other Christmases to spend together. You barely get to see your friends who don't go to Barden, and this is a good time. See them all at once, and I can have you the rest of the time." He whispered in her ear. She shivered.

"I'm glad you understand. I don't feel so bad anymore about it." she said. He grinned.

"Good." He said, kissing her cheek. The two of them sat together, just talking.

Beca sighed. Somehow, she'd ended up completely in charge of how to decorate the Treble House kitchen and living room for Leslie's birthday party. Chloe had been in charge of it before, but she and Aubrey had to get snacks and stuff. They'd taken Lilly, Ashley, and Cynthia Rose with them, too.

Beca shook her head as Unicycle jumped up again, then she turned back to her job at hand. Chaos had broken out when Kolio had found balloons in a back closet. Apparently, the Trebles really liked balloons, as about a hundred and forty helium-filled balloons were spread around the living room ceiling, being pushed down towards the floor, and flowing into the kitchen. Most of the Trebles had disappeared into the mass of balloons.

Beca's orders about the balloons were to spread them evenly around the house or something, just get as many out of the kitchen and living room as possible. The Bellas were not helping much, as none of them save Stacie were tall enough to reach the ceiling. So Beca just told them to each choose a Treble, and assist in moving the balloons. It was obviously too difficult a concept for the college sophomores to grasp.

Beca was thankful that Jesse and Benji were helping her in the kitchen. She probably couldn't have done baking herself. Instead of a buying a cake, they'd decided to last minute make brownies and various cookies. They were pretty sure Leslie didn't even eat cake, as well.

Sadly, they didn't have any mix, so they were working from scratch.

A surprised cry followed by a thud and then a moan echoed through the house. Everyone turned towards the sound. Unicycle was laying on his back, looking a little dazed.

"Why the fuck is the ceiling so high up?" he asked as Greg helped him to his feet. Beca couldn't help but laugh. Unicycle looked at her in disbelief.

"Think its funny, Mitchell?" he asked. Beca nodded.

"You guys and balloons. Be a genius, Unicycle. Just because I said put them in a different room does not mean you actually have to touch them. Use a broom, or a pillow, or fucking blow them to another room. You have enough hot air in you." She said, shaking her head and turning back to baking.

Unicycle glared at her for a moment, before looking around. Kolio spoke up.

"That's actually not a bad idea." He said, and before they knew, there was a game of blow-the-balloons-into-a-different-room going on. Beca just rolled her eyes.

An hour and a half later, the Trebles and the Bellas decided the party couldn't be any more set up for. Aubrey and Chloe had returned, so there was things to eat, and that's all that really mattered. Entertaining things to do could be thought up as the party progressed.

"So," Kolio said, "How exactly do we get Leslie here?" he asked. Everyone looked at Beca. She glanced at the clock.

"Unicycle, text Donald. Tell him to make up an excuse for him to bring Leslie over. They're hanging out." She said. Unicycle nodded, and pulled out his phone.

Leslie smiled as Donald showed her another picture, clicking through the album on her jumpdrive.

"And this appears to be you holding a frog. Or a frog clinging to your hand, however you perceive it." he said. He'd made a game from captioning her pictures. It entertained her, and usually he asked for the story behind it.

"I'm pretty sure I was holding the frog." She said.

"And what actually happened?" he asked. She looked up into his eyes.

"We'd moved a few weeks before, so we had no friends, and no idea of what to do for fun. Dad decided he's show us the springs near base. While my sisters were busy crossing a log, I managed to hop down and catch a frog." She narrated. He nodded.

"Makes sense. How long ago was it?" he asked, pointing at the picture. She thought for a moment.

"I would've been eleven, so nine years ago." She said, "Damn, seems like a lifetime ago. The only thing I had to worry about was if I got dessert after dinner and if I had checked on my webkinz that day. Now, I have to remember to do well in school, and sing well all the time, and not forget to eat before a night of DayZ and HALO and to not be sad around my friends. And love you." She said. He grinned, and kissed her.

"You're still just as cute." He said. She blushed a little. He leaned to kiss her again when his phone buzzed.

"Dammit." He said, checking it. She smiled at him. He smiled back.

"Ugh, the guys want me at the Treble House. Now, or they'll come get me. How long do you think it will take ten guys to get across campus?" he said. She grinned.

"Not long enough. Why do they want you?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I dunno. Unicycle didn't say. Wanna come with me? In case they're boring? Then we could sneak upstairs." he said. She looked at him.

"What if they aren't boring? What will I do then?" she asked. He grinned.

"Then you won't be bored either. Come on, please?" he asked. She nodded.

"Okay. Something tells me you won't get bored, though." She said. He grinned, and kissed her.

"Maybe you can stay the night. Then I won't get bored at all." He said, giving her a suggestive smile. She playfully pushed him, and he swayed a little.

"Come on, Les." He said, kissing her, and taking her hand. Before he drew back, she responded to his kiss, pressing her lips closer to his. He smiled as she ended it.

"You still surprise me, sometimes, Les." He said, before pulling her to her feet. They walked hand-in-hand out of the dorm hall and started to head towards the Treble House.

Jesse came back into the room.

"They're in the driveway." He said. Beca nodded. "Everyone hide." She said. The Trebles and Bellas began scrambling around.

"Stacie, Hat, down here." She said, and the two came back down the stairs. Jesse hit the lights, and they sat in darkness.

Leslie laughed as she and Donald walked up the front step of the Treble House.

"I'm not kidding." He said, giving her a serious look. She grinned, shaking her head.

"You're crazy." She looked in the window by the door. "You know, it looks a little dark in there. Are you sure Unicycle wanted you at the Treble House?" she asked. Donald looked in, unlocking the door.

"That's what he said. Maybe they're playing hide-and-seek while waiting for me." He said, gesturing her in. She smiled.

"That's only believable because they're Trebles." She said. He grinned, following her into the kitchen.

"Damn, are you sure they're here? Trebles aren't quiet." She asked, as they tried to maneuver through the dark front hall. They heard a sneeze and a soft thump.

"Never mind, they're here." She said. Donald chuckled, walking into the kitchen behind her.

"Where's the light switch? Wait, I found it." he said, and flipped on the lights.

"Surprise!"

Leslie jumped. "Holy fuck." She said, grinning.

Donald grinned, watching the Bellas attack Leslie with hugs. Beca smiled at her.

"Want food?" she asked, and Leslie nodded. With that, the Bellas and Trebles began to eat. It wasn't long before everyone had food, and they'd all taken seats in the living room.

"So," Unicycle asked, "Did we surprise you, Leslie?" he asked. Leslie nodded.

"Yeah, actually, you guys did. Kudos to you." She said. Beca and Chloe high-fived each other. Leslie raised an eyebrow at them.

"Did you not expect to?" she asked, and Beca nodded.

"You are impossible to surprise." She said. Leslie shrugged. "For some reason, I don't really believe that. Donald surprises me all the time." She said. Beca and Chloe looked at Donald, who grinned and shrugged from his place leaning against the doorframe.

"Anyways," Jesse said, "What am I eating?" he asked, looking at the étouffée. The Trebles all nodded, save Donald. Leslie grinned.

"Its étouffée." She said, giving a thumbs-up to Beca. Beca smiled. Jesse shook his head.

"Okay, but what is it?" he asked. Donald grinned.

"Étouffée is a Cajun dish made of rice and either shrimp or crawfish. This particular one is shrimp, and not as spicy as most of the time because Beca doesn't like spicy things." He said, walking over to Leslie's spot on the arm of the couch. Leslie smiled.

"Look at you, actually paying attention to what I say." She said. Donald kissed her cheek.

"It's not hard. Although sometimes I get lost in your eyes. Gorgeous, mesmerizing eyes that you have." he said. She blushed, smiling. Smiles lit up around the room. Greg shook his head.

"You'd think they couldn't get any cuter." He said. Everyone laughed. Bumper looked around.

"Okay, so now that we know what we're eating, why are we eating it? What is the story behind étouffée? Most people just have pizza for their birthdays." he asked. Leslie slid off the arm of the couch, and threw her plate away. Then she returned to her spot before answering.

"When I was growing up, starting in the seventh grade, instead of my parents trying to come up with some sort of cake, they'd just let me pick what we'd have for dinner. In ninth grade, it was a decided pattern between étouffée and chicken'n'dumplings. This year would be étouffée if I was actually going home for my birthday. I think I'll be in West Monroe this year for my birthday, if plans don't change again. This will be the first year, I think ever, that I won't see my parents at all until spring break." She said, looking down at her drink. Donald put his arm around her, and squeezed her shoulders in a comforting manner. She smiled at him.

"Again, you'd think they couldn't be cuter!" Greg said. Laughter filled the room. Leslie shook her head.

"I dunno, Donald can be pretty fucking cute sometimes. He's sexy the rest of the time." She said. Donald grinned, sitting on the couch arm behind her.

"Now what?" he asked, looking at Beca. Beca shrugged.

"I didn't think we'd eat that quickly. Maybe we could all just talk for a little while. I don't want anyone drunk before ten." She said. They all nodded. Unicycle sighed.

"Beca," he whined, "The balloons aren't even staying in the other rooms." He said, looking at the ceiling. Everyone glanced up. Slowly, the balloons the Trebles had worked _**so hard**_ to get out were floating back in. Beca rolled her eyes.

"Well, you guys did blow up at least a hundred and what, forty. Of course they wouldn't stay in one place. You have made a special bond with those poor balloons." She said. Leslie looked at them, confused.

"Why would you blow up balloons?" she asked. Kolio shrugged.

"Because balloons are fun." He said simply. Leslie shook her head.

"There is only one thing balloons are useful for." Leslie said. "Anyone got a rubber band?" she asked. Hat nodded, and got one from a drawer, handing it to her.

"Thank you." She said. Aiming carefully, she pulled the rubber band back, and shot it at a balloon. The rubber band popped the balloon, a loud pop filled the room, and a ping as the rubber band hit the wall. Leslie smiled. Donald grinned, and high-fived her.

"That was really good. I don't think I could've hit that one." He said. Leslie shrugged. Unicycle looked at them.

"How do you know how to do that? Why would you want to know how to do that?" he asked. Leslie shrugged.

"I don't like balloons. They're best when they're popped. You have no idea how many ways I can pop a balloon." She said. Grins went up around the room.

"How many different ways can you pop a balloon, Leslie?" Kolio asked, obviously in disbelief.

"Well, you can shoot them with rubber bands, as I have just proven. And you can stab them with needles. If you're feeling particularly insane, throwing scissors works fine. Slamming them with doors works well sometimes. Drop a brick on it. That actually requires amazing precision, it's difficult. You can bite it. Causes minor trauma occasionally. If you're particularly patient, you can sit on them. It's amazing the amount of creativity that goes into popping balloons." She said. Unicycle looked at her, confused.

"Why would you get trauma from biting a balloon?" he asked. Leslie sighed. "If you aren't careful, it pops against your tongue. The pain is a little addictive, but it usually numbs down after a while. If you're not used to it, it's quite a surprise." She said. He nodded. She grinned.

Beca smiled, and said, "Okay, so maybe we need a game, not just talking." Ideas shot up.

"Never have I ever?"

"Truth or dare?"

"Spin the bottle?"

"I would like to see how one pops a balloon by biting it."

Beca sighed, closing her eyes.

"Okay, one at a time. Leslie, why don't you a pick a game? It's your party." She said. Leslie sighed.

"We could play darts with human dartboards." She suggested. Donald shook his head.

"Les, how would that work?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Very carefully." She responded. At the looks on everyone's faces, there were two different ideas of how human dartboards would work out. Leslie smiled brightly. Beca sighed. They could tell Leslie was being like this on purpose, just to bug Beca.

"Truth or dare it is."

Leslie's birthday party was great. Even though Donald had been pulled away from her by the Trebles in one of the games, he still watched her. She was sitting at the table with the Bellas. She was smiling again, at whatever they were talking about.

"Yo, Donald, your go." Kolio said, bringing Donald back to the game. Donald looked around at the other Trebles.

"Uh, pass me this round. I'll be back in a moment." He said, standing up from his place on the floor to walk over to the table.

"Hey, Les, may I borrow you for a moment?" he asked. She looked at the Bellas, who nodded at her. She smiled, and stood up. He took her hand, and pulled her out onto the front porch. The sun hadn't quite sunk yet, but it had gotten cooler already. Leslie shivered in the cold air.

"Sorry, my room's a mess. And the guys are more likely to follow us up there." He said. She nodded.

"It's fine. The Bellas don't really like the cold either." She said. He grinned, taking off his jacket, and putting it around her, then leading her down the driveway a bit.

"I couldn't stay in there another moment without you, Leslie." He said. "And it's really hot in there." He added. She smiled.

"I like being with you." She said. He grinned.

"That's good; I didn't plan on letting you go anytime soon." He said. "Anyways, it kind of just came to me that I won't actually see you for your birthday, so I'll give you your present now." He said. She looked at him. Before she could say anything, he pulled something from his pocket, and held it up. Leslie gasped.

It was a necklace: a silver chain with a small charm on it. The charm was a Treble note and a Bass note shaped into a heart. Engraved on one side was _**D+L **_in an intricate style.

"It's beautiful." Leslie said. Donald smiled, and reached around to put it on her.

"Well, you see, I was trying to find one that would match with you a little. I was having a lot of trouble, see, nothing was quite as beautiful as you. I had a friend of my dad custom make this. When I told him what I was looking for, he agreed with me. It'd be hard to find anything in the world even close to you." He said. She smiled.

"Thank you, Donald," she said. He nodded.

"My pleasure." He said.

"I love you, Donald." She said. He pulled her close to him.

"I love you, too, Leslie. So much you'd never guess." He said. He kissed her, then, and she kissed him back. Only when the need for air became too much did they stop. Donald ran his hands down Leslie's arms and up her back under his jacket. She shivered again.

"Are you cold, Les? Do you want to go back inside? I'm pretty sure I can lock the Trebles and Bellas downstairs if you want. Bribe them to leave us alone." He said. Leslie shook her head.

"No, I'm okay. I'm with you." She said. He pulled her into his arms. To him, she felt a little cold, but he was warm to her.

"Are you cold? Because I've got your jacket." She asked quietly. He shook his head.

"I'm okay, I'm with you." Donald said, repeating what she'd said. Leslie smiled. She held onto his hands, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He smiled in the kiss, leaning into it.

It was only perfect.


End file.
